Sprint urged deferring Lifeline de-enrollments and national verifier "hard" launches until Universal Service Administrative Co. gains greater automated access to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program databases. The Lifeline provider said USAC has negotiated such access to SNAP, Medicaid and Federal Public Housing Assistance program databases in only eight of the 27 states and territories where the NV is in use (16 hard launches where it's mandatory and 11 soft launches); in 16 it has only FPHA access. The carrier said more than 60 percent of current Lifeline applicants demonstrate eligibility through SNAP and Medicaid participation, and only 0.6 percent through FPHA. "In 11 jurisdictions, the NV will launch without a connection to a state [SNAP or Medicaid] database due to cost effectiveness constraints,” the provider filed, posted Tuesday in FCC docket 11-42. That forces manual reverification that's "highly problematic and can result in large numbers of customer de-enrollments due to extremely low end user response rates," Sprint said. "The mass de-enrollment of potentially millions of otherwise-eligible Lifeline subscribers because of a difficult and ineffective reverification process clearly is not in the public interest." It backed refining database search criteria, enhancing feedback on reverification failures, establishing "consistent, transparent application of eligibility criteria" and temporarily suspending Lifeline recertification in remaining non-NV states. The National Lifeline Association urged the NV to "incorporate checks or 'dips' against the national CMS/Medicaid database, as well as any additional state SNAP databases that may come online, prior to any deenrollments." NaLA voiced "appreciation for recent stakeholder engagement toward implementing" an NV application programming interface solution to allow providers "to help consumers navigate the verification process." The FCC and USAC didn't comment.

Big tech companies, plus Broadcom and the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC), separately told the FCC they fear nothing from indoor, low-power unlicensed use of 6 GHz spectrum and shouldn’t require frequency coordination. Replies were due Monday on an NPRM, in docket 18-295, with some other commenters urging caution (see 1903180047). “Comments make it clear that in the vast majority of locations, times, and configurations, [radio local access networks] would not be positioned to even potentially cause harmful interference to incumbents,” the tech companies said. Some commenters raise concerns, they said: “With few exceptions, these commenters either provide no empirical support for these claims or repeat flawed arguments that have already been presented and addressed in prior phases of this proceeding.” The filing was signed by Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Marvell Technology, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Ruckus Networks. Broadcom separately said fixed-service proponents warn of a threat that doesn’t exist. “FS interests now focus on unlikely corner-case interference scenarios in arguing for additional regulation, Broadcom said: “In the vast majority of situations, however, RLANs will not be positioned to raise any harmful interference concerns at all. And an analysis of FS system operations shows that if the unrealistic combination of improbable events conjured by FS interests somehow were to occur, it would not degrade FS operations in the real world.” The record shows “diverse and strong support” for allowing unlicensed use across all 1,200 MHz from 5925 to 7125 MHz, and “broad support” for low-power and indoor-only use in the U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 segments without a coordination requirement, PISC said. “Base policies on risk-informed interference assessments and not unrealistic worst-case scenarios.” The Open Technology Institute at New America, Consumer Federation of America, Public Knowledge, Consortium for School Networking, Access Humboldt and X-Lab signed. They advised caution. NAB warned “no commenter has proposed an effective mechanism for protecting important broadcast auxiliary services operations” in the U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 bands. “Uncoordinated unlicensed use” here “risks crippling interference to licensed BAS services,” NAB said. Given the “already diverse and critical use of the spectrum, it is not surprising that … comments question the viability of adding millions or possibly billions of unlicensed devices into the band without causing interference to higher priority services that already rely on the spectrum,” said the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council.

Many asked the FCC to delay broadband performance testing by Connect America Fund recipients, scheduled to begin July 1. AT&T, ITTA and the Wireless ISP Association discussed with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai a petition for reconsideration of CAF performance metrics filed by USTelecom, WISPA and ITTA. Despite "productive meetings," the associations remain "concerned by the mismatch between the Order’s treatment of latency vs. speed testing as well as the harsh compliance framework adopted for even minor misses of latency and speed targets," filed AT&T, ITTA and WISPA in docket 10-90 Monday, noting USTelecom agrees. "Given the work still to be done to finalize the performance metric rules, we strongly urged the Commission to delay" testing. The order "adopts a reasonable one-test-per-hour and 80/80 compliance standard for speed testing, but by contrast requires one-test-per-minute for latency and maintains the prematurely adopted 95% compliance standard," they added: Latency doesn't fluctuate "to the degree that requires such granular testing."

FCC failure to act on petitions to reconsider two summer infrastructure orders is delaying the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals cases on the “legal soundness" of the August and September rulings, local governments said, posted Monday in dockets including 17-79. NATOA, the National League of Cities and city officials met Wednesday with the Wireline Bureau. Localities urged the FCC to reject requests to extend to wireline providers the interpretation of Section 253 from the challenged September order, which they said considered “unique characteristics and economics of small wireless facilities deployment” and doesn’t apply to wireline. The FCC should continually review appropriate broadband speeds for rural areas by carriers getting federal support, including upload speeds important to businesses and remote workers, said local governments. Attendees included NATOA President and Boston Broadband and Cable Director Mike Lynch, Councilmember Andy Huckaba of Lenexa, Kansas; Mayor Stephanie Piko of Centennial, Colorado; Councilmember John Fogle of Loveland, Colorado; Council Member Jesse Barlow of State College, Pennsylvania; and Vice Mayor Corina Lopez, Council Members Benny Lee and Victor Aguilar, and City Manager Jeff Kay of San Leandro, California.

The FCC added language on privacy and the effect on consumers in the Lifeline program, based on side-by-side comparison of the draft Further NPRM and FNPRM on 911 vertical location accuracy, as released Monday. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel dissented Friday, while Commissioner Geoffrey Starks secured changes (see 1903150067). “We seek comment on the appropriate data privacy and security framework for z-axis data,” the FNPRM said. “We seek comment on whether use of z-axis data should be limited to 911 calls except as otherwise required by law.” Neither question was in the draft. The rulemaking asks whether a proposed 3-meter z-axis metric “will provide adequate vertical location accuracy protection for consumers who participate in the Commission’s Lifeline program.” It seeks comment “on the extent to which mobile phones provided to consumers as part of the Lifeline program have the capability, through barometric pressure sensors or other means, to be located within a 3-meter z-axis metric” and “how to ensure that vertical location protections extend to and include users of the Lifeline program.” The FNPRM asks more generally about potential turnover rates for wireless handsets and “features of devices likely to be available and in use by the compliance dates established in our rules.”

The FCC finalized relocation of its equal employment opportunity team from the Media to the Enforcement bureau, said Friday's Federal Register. Commissioners voted in July to approve (see 1807240049). The agency said Friday it now has House and Senate Appropriations committees and Office of Management and Budget OKs and has worked out terms with the National Treasury Employees Union.

Neither Charter customers nor the Competitive Enterprise Institute has standing to challenge the broadband network overbuild conditions the FCC put on the company's buys of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks or the agency order rejecting CEI's petition for reconsideration, the regulator said in a docket 18-1281 appellee brief Thursday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The named individual customer appellants either didn't have higher monthly broadband bills or haven't shown their higher bills are due to the overbuild requirements, and they never took part in the agency proceeding, so denying their petition was well within its rules, the FCC said. CEI hasn't shown a link between its supporters and the outcome of this litigation and hasn't identified a member with a concrete injury, it said. Sam Kazman, general counsel for CEI -- which argued the FCC abused its discretion (see 1901150049) -- told us Friday the agency focus on standing wasn't unexpected and is indicative of wanting to avoid discussion of the merits about conditions "to infinity and beyond." He hopes the court "will see through that ruse."

The FCC 24 GHz auction had $304.4 million in provisionally winning bids after the first day Thursday, on two rounds. The 28 GHz auction had $41.7 million at that point, closing in January with $702.6 million. New Street predicts prices per MHz/POP will be similar to the earlier high-band auction, with an estimated $3.3 billion in proceeds (see 1903050006). Other analysts made similar predictions. The highest prices so far are in the three largest markets -- New York, followed by Los Angeles and Chicago. Bidding continues Friday with three rounds. The auction started despite House Science Committee members seeking a delay (see 1903130057). The auctions are very different, so comparisons are hard to draw. The 28 GHz auction used the standard simultaneous multiple round auction format, with two 425 MHz blocks in each county. The 24 GHz uses a clock format and requires bidding on generic blocks in each partial economic area. A second phase will allow winners of the generic blocks to bid for frequency-specific license assignments. The 24 GHz licenses are offered in seven 100 MHz blocks in each market.

The FCC's September wireless infrastructure order set a rate ceiling of $270 annually per small-cell facility (see 1903130066).

The FCC appears poised to approve a rural call completion order with only modest changes to a draft, agency officials said. They said the vote at Friday's commissioners' meeting seems likely to be unanimous, though one said some concerns could be expressed. NTCA had urged the FCC to strengthen its proposed "flexible" intermediate provider service-quality standards and make its proposed sunset of "covered" originating provider record-keeping duties contingent on RCC rule effectiveness (see 1903050041). But CTIA and USTelecom backed the data recording and retention relief (see 1903080022 and 1903110070). Major changes aren't in the works, the commission officials said. A requirement for a bureau-level report on rural call completion is expected to be added to the item at the request of Democratic commissioners, and concerns about call-delivery overseas are expected to be addressed, "buried in the details," said one official. Attorney Robert Koppel of Lukas LaFuria said he's "optimistic" the FCC will address a problem he raised on behalf of long-distance providers handing off 100 percent of their voice traffic directly to foreign carriers terminating outside the country. He urged the FCC to clarify "it will not require the final 'intermediate provider' in the United States to ensure that any additional, non-U.S. intermediate providers, are registered" with the commission.